A Fine Day for a Hanging

NOW A MAJOR TV SERIES, A CRUEL LOVE, STARRING LUCY BOYNTON - COMING SOON TO ITV.

Ruth Ellis was hanged for the murder of her lover, despite huge public outcry, and became the last woman to be executed in Britain.

Against the backdrop of the glamorous 1950s club scene, this is the real Ruth Ellis story: a tragic true tale of murder, class, love and betrayal.

"A forensically researched book that casts a haunting new light on the last woman to be hanged in Britain" Daily Mail

In 1955, former nightclub manageress Ruth Ellis shot dead her lover, David Blakely. Following a trial that lasted less than two days, she was found guilty and sentenced to death. She became the last woman to be hanged in Britain, and her execution is the most notorious of hangman Albert Pierrepoint's 'duties'.

Despite Ruth's infamy, the story of her life has never been fully told. Often wilfully misinterpreted, the reality behind the headlines was buried by an avalanche of hearsay. But now, through new interviews and comprehensive research into previously unpublished sources, Carol Ann Lee examines the facts without agenda or sensation.

A portrait of the era and an evocation of 1950s club life in all its seedy glamour, A Fine Day for a Hanging sets Ruth's gripping story firmly in its historical context in order to tell the truth about both her timeless crime and a punishment that was very much of its time.